Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Chapter one: Washi Tape

A few months back, I did a post about my process for writing letters and the supplies I use to decorate my envelopes. A couple of people asked me about where I get my supplies so I thought I'd share my sources.

I'll start with the Washi Tape since that was the big superstar of the post.....


Would you believe me if I told you that all of my washi tape was purchased within the last 5 months? Prior to March, I didn't even know what washi tape was. But if you need to know anything about me, it's this: when I get obsessed with something, I go stark-raving, foam-at-the-mouth insane. You know how sometimes you joke about wanting to sell your kidney to buy something? Sadly, when I say it, I'm only 8.5% joking. Biology shouldn't have given me two of something if it didn't intend for me to sell one copy for washi tape. GEEZ. I go full-Hulk while buying, calm down after a few weeks, and only then look at the aftermath of how badly my wallet was hit. Ignorance is bliss people, ignorance is bliss.

My washi tape was mostly purchased from the following places:

1) Omiyage [wonderful seller right in Canada. They have a $7.50 flat-rate for shipping, and refund your money if the actual shipping cost is less than the $7.50. Great and honest to boot! But they sell out quite quickly, so if you find something you like, I suggest you purchase it lickey-split!]
2) Happy Tape [great seller with really neat 10-tape paks. However, the shipping is fairly pricey compared to the other places, so that can be a huge hit to the wallet]
3) Cute Tape [really great selection of washi tapes, but the selection of several items—which has to be done item by item—to the shopping cart is a total pain]
4) Deserres [a chain of art stores in Canada that offer practically everything you could need for art and some crafts, including washi tape! I rely on Deserres to keep me stocked up on pens as well]

There are also numerous stores on etsy that sell washi tape. Hello Bunnies and Papered Thoughts recently had great posts about other washi tape sources so check them out too!

I'm washi-ed out. Did you groan at the really embarassing pun? Me too. Let's not mention it again.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Snaily maily revelations.

Hello everyone! This is going to be a doozy of a looooong post so strap yourself in and let's go! This was a week of revelations. Here's what I learned/realized this week:

1) Awesomesauce is indeed one word. Thank you to everyone who had a hand in edumacating me.

2) There are a lot of trekkie snail mailers out there! I was both pleased and amazed at how many people recognized the Enterprise that was on an outgoing letter last week. Fly those geek flags high people, LOVE IT. I'd make a "live long and prosper joke" here, but that would be obvious and lame. Please think up a really clever Star Trek joke....and then pretend I said it. My job here is done.

3) According to the internet, shaving with conditioner leaves your skin feeling smooth and doesn't give you razor rash! However, this just in: it doesn't work. AT ALL. At least it didn't for me! It's actually quite painful. Like, things are eating me alive painful. OUCHIES. What kind of world do we live in where I can't trust what I read on the internet?! Soon you'll be telling me that Elvis isn't alive and living in the Alps; that I can't lose weight through two easy steps a day; or that Bill Gates won't pay me $245 if I forward an email to 10 of my closest friends. Don't tell me any of that isn't true because I'll just lose it. I really will. Plus, I was counting on Bill Gates to cover my retirement. Him and the government official from Nigeria who promised to triple my investment after he gained access to his riches! I'm going to be a fifty-dollar-ionnaire!! YIPPEE!

4) And then the not-so-good realizations...I'm starting to feel overwhelmed with the mail I'm trying to catch up on and can't take on any more new penpals. (I'm sure that disappoints a grand total of minus two readers!) As some of you may know, I'm INCAPABLE of writing a short letter. Some of my letters have become epic letters (in length, though the content sucks. It's just a lot of "No work and no play make Laura a dull duck." Repeat for 16 pages.) so it takes me a really long time to respond to a letter. I'd love to write everyone who is crazy enough to want a letter from me, but unfortunately, I just don't have enough time in the day. And my stupid TARDIS doesn't even work, so I can't even go back and re-live time no matter how much I want to. So if we're not already penpals and you were thinking of writing me a letter, might I suggest writing someone from Penpal of the Week or Send Something instead?

Anyway, enough of the revelations, onto the mail!

Incoming:




Julie called me a stalker the other day. My first thought was "wait a minute....yeah, okay." Then she addressed the envelope to her "crazy friend." THEN she started off her letter by calling me a liar! And all of this goes to show that we're getting to know each other splendidly!!! Though I'm more a bender of truth. So when I say that my letter is around 12 pages, it's actually, technically, maybe, sorta, kinda 856 pages. And when I say that I can eat my own weight in sushi, it really, actually, kinda means that I can eat a whale's weight in sushi. Tomato, tomahto, right?

More envelope goodies from the always lovely Miki.
Check out these heart and bear buttons!
The bears look like delicious teddy graham candies, don't they? I keep telling myself "Don't eat them Laura, they look like candies, but they're still buttons." You know you've reached a new level of low when you have to actually remind yourself not to eat buttons.

And the envelope goodies continue! This time from Katri:

But you need to take a closer look at the envelope because woah, dude! It's translucent! (I think it's cellophane...) Either way, Katri has this great tutorial on how to make your own clear envelopes. Thanks for the awesome mail Katri!

Outgoing:


Nicole and I have been postcard penpals for a while now, and we recently did something totally nuts and....wrote each other a letter. However, I found it quite difficult moving the conversation back to a postcard because space is a clearly an issue. So I totally cheated and VOILA! I created my own ghetto version of the postcard/letter. Or the letcard (post-ter?) as I call it:
I then taped the two ends up with washi tape and sent it on its way.














And that's it! I'm off to eat bear candies! Crap, I just did it again. "They're not candies, they're buttons..." Have an awesome week everyone!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Drumroll please....

Thanks to everyone who entered my envelope-palooza, and for continuing to visit my blog. This blog is just over 4 months old, and it's been a lot of fun to write. I greatly appreciate all the people who send me mail, comment, follow, and/or stalk this blog. Above all else, I really appreciate you not calling the crazy police on me, despite giving you lots of reasons to do so. Seriously though, thanks for not calling them. I've been told that I'm on my third strike and they're really tired of seeing my silly face hanging about the station.

Drumroll, please! Without further adieu, the winner of the envelope-palooza is:


YAY! Round of applause for Caddi!

But, but, but! Don't go away so soon! I was so overwhelmed with the number of people who entered the envelope-palooza that I decided to offer two runner-up envelopes. It's not as washi-tape-errific as the grand envelope; however, I personally think it's still spectacular. I don't want to blow the surprise for the recipients, but here's a little peek:


Both envelopes contain things (envelopes, stationery, postcards, whatever) that I've pillaged from my own letter writing supplies—all selected with love! Awwwww! The two winners of the runner-up envelope surprises are:


Hopefully it doesn't disappoint. HIGH FIVES for Nicole and Jona! WOOT WOOT!

All the envelopes have been sent off, ready to go to their new homes!



And this concludes the first envelope-palooza! YAY!! I can't wait to offer the 2nd one! But remember everyone: [and say it with me now] you're all winners in my eyes. Awwwwww....!

Can someone get the elephant and the contortionist out of my bathtub? Envelope-palooza is over! Nothing to see here, move along...just because you can touch your head with your own foot doesn't mean I wanna be roomies. That goes for you too elephant....

Friday, July 20, 2012

Edward Scissorclaws

Oh no! I've been turned into an envelope making machine again! I must have made hundreds of envelopes over the last few weeks. I can't even use this many envelopes, but yet I can't stop making them. I find the repetition and monotony of it strangely comforting. Comforting, yes; comfortable, hell no. In addition to my back now being the president of the I-hate-Laura club, I'm now suffering from scissor claws. What's scissor claws you ask? Well, let's turn to my handy dictionary for a definition:

scis-sor claws (szr klĂ´)
n.
1. An affliction that affects people too stupid to put down their scissors and stop making envelopes [this is where a picture of me would go]. It is characterized by the semi-permanent (or for 4 days, whichever comes first) hardening of the fingers of the scissors-holding hand into a scissors holding position;
2. A condition that occurs when a person actually replaces his/her hand with a pair of scissors and threatens to claw others with it.

Please know that I'm suffering from the former, not the latter. I'm not Laura-olverine quite yet. I may be obsessive, but I'm still adamantium-free. A reasonable, logical person would stop cutting paper immediately. But let no one ever accuse me of being reasonable! And if you did recently: TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK RIGHT NOW! And you! Give me the scissors!!

Before I dive into the mail, envelope-palooza officially ended yesterday! I'll be announcing the winner early next week. Stay tuned snailmail lovers: same bat channel, random bat time. [Yes, I have both a wolverine and a batman reference in the same blog post. Just go with it.]

Incoming:





This letter from Emilie was velociraptor-iffic!!
 No, really, it even says so!
 
It also had one of my favourite stamps ever! It's going to go really well with Captain Canuck! Everyone, meet Dmitri, the Stego! He seems more fixated on eating my shoes at the moment than wanting to play my version of dinosaur fetch, but give him time. And don't go anywhere near him with marshmallows (something I learned the hard way....).



Postcard swap with Gladys. BLISTERING BARNACLES!!!


Outgoing:









I leave you with the best thing I saw this week:

It's from a site called Super Dickery, which is dedicated to using out-of-context panels from Superman comic books to prove that Superman is a dick. I may or may not be using it as arsenal in my argument that Marvel is supreme to DC. Muahahahahaha! The Hulk would never do any of that! He's a good superhero! Either way, I'm more amused than I should be by it.

Man alive! First Wolverine, then Batman, now Superman, and then Hulk for good measure. I need to get a grip! And I'm out! Happy weekend everyone.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Ah-way-oh-mail-oh.

Comic-Con is happening in San Diego right now. I've gone the last two years, but wasn't able to this year. However, my heart wishes it was there right now—probably somewhere between the cast of Fringe and Richard Armitage. Life feels pret-ty grand after you get a nod from a stormtrooper. But I don't—

I interrupt this terribly boring intro to ask a VERY, VERY important question:

Awesome sauce: two words or one? Awesomesauce? Awesome sauce? I used to think it was two words, but I'm coming around to the one-word camp of thinking. What do you think? Anyway, I'll return you to the most boring intro that any blog has ever seen..

—miss the hundreds of Slave Leias. Seriously, can't women think of more original cosplay?

Mail time!

Incoming:



More shark mail from Missive Maven. Except this time, it's pirate themed (you know, the people who feed scallywags to the sharks and Davy Jones's locker). Would you groan if I told you that this blogpost was brought to you by the letter "aaaarrrrrrrrr?" No? C'mon, that joke is awesome. Ha! And it's seriously the only pirate joke I know.


I love this Mail a Moose from Nicole so much.
Someone needs to create more animals that we can send through the mail. Mail a velociraptor, perhaps?! Naturally, I'm thinking of the paper version of animals, of course. Can you imagine trying to ship a real-life walrus through the mail? That's ridiculous! However, let's say, for hypothetical purposes, say someone—let's call her, Baura—did try to fit a real-life walrus through the mail and got nabbed by the mail cops. But she escaped using a baguette and an expresso, does anyone have a place I (AHEM, I mean Baura) can hide?! Baura needs to drop the fuzz that's after her.





Outgoing:












The fuzz are coming, so that's it! I'm out.